Personal GPS navigation device

ABSTRACT

A navigation device is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the navigation device includes a storage device to store map information and points of interest (POIs), the POIs including description information and location information; and a display to display stored POIs at a location of the map information, based upon the location information, POIs being selectively retrievable from a remote location for subsequent storage and display.

PRIORITY PARAGRAPH

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority under35 USC §120 on pending prior U.S. application Ser. No. 11/428,832 filedon Jul. 5, 2006, which itself is a continuation of and claims priorityunder 35 USC §120 on prior U.S. application Ser. No. 10/452,492 filed onJun. 2, 2003, the entire contents of each of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a personal GPS navigation device. A personalGPS navigation device is any electronic device that can process GPSlocation data and display the location of the device on a map. Thedevice may be a dedicated navigation device, or a general purposeelectronic device, such as a personal digital assistant, smart phone,mobile telephone, laptop or palmtop computer. The device may be portableor fixed in a vehicle.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Personal navigation devices are becoming increasingly common. Aparticularly successful approach is to connect a PocketPC™ powered PDA(personal digital assistant) to a GPS receiver: the PDA, when runningnavigation software, becomes a GPS based personal navigation device.Another successful format is the dedicated GPS device, used by hikers,sailors etc. In some countries, mobile telephones will have to beequipped with a GPS receiver in order to be able to send the location ofthat telephone in the event of an emergency, greatly increasing theadopting of GPS technology as a mass market technology. Portable GPSreceiver devices have also been used in personal safety devices asdescribed in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,480,557 to Rog, et al.entitled “Portable GPS-receiver for a personal safety system”, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

GPS device have also been incorporated into road vehicles and integratedinto road map data bases to provide navigation and vehicle trackingsystems as described in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,700 to Ando,et al. entitled “Method and apparatus for processing data in a GPSreceiving device in a road vehicle” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,842 toBrown, et al. entitled “Vehicle tracking system employing globalpositioning system (GPS) satellites”, the contents of both of whichpatents are hereby incorporated by reference.

One common feature of current personal GPS navigation devices is thatthey can display a GPS information screen, such as the screen shown inFIG. 1B. The GPS information screen shows: how many GPS satellitesignals are being received and their individual strength at 3 a; thelocation co-ordinates of the device at 3 b; the speed of the device at 3c; the direction of movement of the device at 3 d; the relativeorientation of GPS satellites that a signal is being picked up from at 3e. The GPS information screen is useful when getting a first GPS fix.Once a fix has been established, most users then switch to the map mode,which causes a map to be displayed on the screen of the personalnavigation device, indicating the location of the device with an arrow.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In a first aspect, a personal GPS navigation device is programmed todisplay, at the same time, each of the following:

-   -   (a) a map;    -   (b) an indication of the current position of the device on the        map; and    -   (c) a GPS signal strength indicator.

Hence, the device differs from the prior art in displaying a GPS signalstrength indicator at the same time as the navigation map (e.g. when thedevice is in navigation mode) and hence does not require a user to leavethe navigation mode to call up a separate GPS information screen inorder to see the GPS signal strength. This is very useful, particularlyfor ordinary consumers, who can see at a glance if the reason thatlocation tracking has been lost is because the received GPS signals areinadequate. (The approach is similar to how network coverage is shown onboth the idle screen of a cellular mobile telephone and when a voicecall is being made: it is very useful to have the strength of thenetwork coverage graphically represented on the screen that is seen whenactually about to make/receive or actually making a voice call.)

In one implementation, the GPS signal strength indicator comprisesseveral bars, with all bars being visible if the strength of thereceived GPS signal exceeds a predefined requirement and none visible ifthe GPS signal strength is below a second predefined requirement. Theterm ‘bar’ should be expansively construed to cover any region, icon,graphic of any shape that can visually represent a signal strengthlevel. The GPS signal strength indicator can be part of the main displayused to display the map or can be discrete, separate hardware entirely,such as LED indicators on the housing of the device. A bar is ‘visible’if it is readily visually differentiated from other bars; these otherbars may still be visually apparent, but in a less prominent manner thana ‘visible’ bar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1A is a photograph of a personal GPS navigation device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 1B is a prior art GPS information screen;

FIGS. 2A-2D are screen shots from an implementation showing a GPS signalstrength indicator at varying levels;

FIG. 2E is an expanded view of the navigation bar from animplementation, showing the GPS signal strength indicator in moredetail;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot from an implementation showing how Point ofInterest data can be inserted into a database running on the device;

FIGS. 4A-4B are screen shots from an implementation showing howdifferent kinds of Point of Interest icons can be selectivelyenabled/disabled for display;

FIGS. 5A-5E are screen shots from an implementation showing how Point ofInterest icons can be prioritised to reduce screen clutter;

FIG. 6A-6B are screen shots from an implementation showing how movingPoint of Interest icons can be displayed;

FIGS. 7A-7E are screen shots from an implementation showing how actionscan be associated with a Point of Interest icons;

FIGS. 8A-8D are screen shots from an implementation showing how mapauto-zooming occurs when approaching a decision point;

FIGS. 9A-9B are screen shots from an implementation showing how the mapsimplifies at higher speeds;

FIG. 10A is a screen shot from an implementation showing how the nextmajor route change is displayed;

FIGS. 11A-11B are screen shots from an implementation showing how anight mode display appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be described with reference to animplementation from Palmtop Software BV of Amsterdam, Netherlands calledTomTom Navigator™. Referring to FIG. 1, the TomTom Navigator GPS systemruns on a PocketPC powered DPA, such as the Compaq iPaq 1 and comprisesa GPS receiver 2 and navigation software running on the Compaq iPaq 1.

In the TomTom Navigator GPS system, routes/roads are described in adatabase running on the personal GPS navigation device as lines—i.e.vectors (i.e. start point, end point, direction for a road, with anentire road being made up of many hundreds of such sections, eachuniquely defined by start point/end point direction parameters). A mapis then a set of such road vectors, plus points of interest (POIs), plusother geographic features like park boundaries, river boundaries etc,all of which are defined in terms of vectors. All map features (e.g.road vectors, POIs etc.) are defined in a co-ordinate system thatcorresponds or relates to the GPS co-ordinate system, enabling adevice's position as determined through a GPS system to be located ontothe relevant road shown in a map.

Route calculation uses complex algorithms applied to score large numbersof potential different routes. Once a route is calculated by the PDA,the PDA in effect has stored in a database a sequence of road names andactions to be done at pre-determined distances along each road of theroute (e.g. after 100 meters, turn left into street x).

1. GPS Signal Strength Indicator

FIGS. 2A-D show a typical navigation screen (aerial view) created by theTomTom Navigator GPS system for a vehicle driving down Central Park Westin New York, N.Y., USA. The position of the vehicle is given by thearrow 5. A navigator bar, indicated generally at 6, includes essentialnavigation information. It also includes a GPS signal strength indicator4. The GPS signal strength indicator 4 is visible in normal navigationmode and hence there is no need to task away to a separate GPSinformation screen to see this information; minimising the need to taskaway from the main navigation mode screen (showing the map and currentvehicle location) is very useful as the device is meant to be used as anin-vehicle navigation system and driver distractions need to be at aminimum. Further, its apparent similarity to the familiar networkcoverage indicator in a mobile telephone screen makes it an easilyunderstood user interface element.

The GPS signal strength indicator 4 consists of 4 bars with thefollowing functional meanings:

-   -   4 bars visible: Received GPS signal is strong enough to give 3D        fix at high level of accuracy (FIG. 2A)    -   3 bars visible: Received GPS signal is strong enough to give a        3D fix; (FIG. 2B)    -   2 bars visible: Received GPS signal is strong enough to give a        2D fix (FIG. 2C)    -   1 bar visible: Received GPS Signal is present, but not strong        enough to obtain a position fix (FIG. 2D)    -   0 bars visible: No signal detected.

FIG. 2E shows the navigation bar 6 in more detail. It includes thefollowing:

-   -   GPS signal strength indicator 4. An indication of the number of        satellites from which GPS signals are being received is also        given—in this case 7.

Name 8 of the current road or route being traveled along (Madison Avenuein this case)

-   -   Distance to next turning to be taken 9 (35 yards in this case)    -   Nature of next turning to be taken 10 (in this case, a right        turn).

Further UI Features

The following features are also present in the TomTom Navigator GPSsystem. Each may be used independently of any other feature (andindependently of displaying the GPS signal strength indicator with themap in navigation mode).

2. Ability to Download POI

POIs are points of interest, such as museums, restaurants, petrolstations etc. The TomTom Navigator GPS system comes pre-loaded withseveral thousand POIs, which can automatically appear on a displayedmap. POIs exist as a POI type and a longitude and latitude position inthe TomTom Navigator GPS system database resident on the device.

An enhancement to the conventional use of POIs is to enable them to bedownloaded to the device (e.g. over the internet or a wirelessconnection (using SMS or WAP etc) and inserted into the database. FIG. 3shows the menu screen listing three new POIs 11, with location data; theuser can choose to insert these into his database by selecting the‘insert’ button 12.

This approach enables third parties to supply POIs from a remotedatabase over a WAN, with possibilities for promoting different POIs.For example, a national chain of gas stations could allow users todownload to their personal GPS navigation devices the location of all ofits gas stations, which could then be displayed with the correct logo atthe correct map locations. The logos could also animate to drawattention to themselves. Location based advertising is also possible(for example, a department store with a sale on could allow POIs of itsstores with a special ‘Sale’ logo to be downloaded). User can alsocreate their own new categories of POIs and exchange them with others:hence, POIs for special interest categories can evolve, driven by theneeds of users. An example might be that photographers could generatePOIs for locations with outstanding views and store these POIs on notonly their own personal GPS navigation devices, but also exchange themwith other photographers. Motorists could identify particularlyenjoyable roads with a new POI type and exchange these with others.Virtually any kind of location information can be categorised with a POIand hence captured in the TomTom Navigator GPS system database residenton the device for display on a map and also exchange with other users.

3. POI Selection

Proliferating the nature of possible POI stored could lead toconsiderable screen clutter, with much irrelevant information. Printedmaps, for example, frequently include too much POI data, making itdifficult to find a specific kind of POI of interest.

The TomTom Navigator GPS system addresses this by listing all POI typesand allowing the user to select which particular types are to bedisplayed: FIGS. 4A and 4B show a typical selection of POI types; onlythe checked item(s) will be displayed on a map: in this case, only gasstations, as shown in FIG. 4A since only the gas station POI check box13 is selected. FIG. 4B shows that check box de-selected: no gasstations will now be displayed on the map in navigation mode.

4. POI Prioritization

The TomTom Navigator maps are divided into grid cells (Navigator 1.0,for instance, uses a 4×5 grid). Within each cell, only a single POI isdisplayed on a map at a time. This reduces screen clutter. FIGS. 5A-Eshow a map of New York at progressively greater enlargement; enlargementis increased by the user moving the zoom control 14 down.

Hence, in FIG. 5A, there is a single gas station indicated as beingpresent in the central Manhattan area 15. (As an aside, it should benoted that GPS signal strength indicator is still apparent at 16).Zoomed in, as shown in FIG. 5B, there are three gas stations 16 incentral Manhattan. Zoomed in still further, as shown in FIG. 5C, thereare many more now shown, plus POIs of other types, such as hotels (thebed icons, 18). Zooming in further still, FIG. 5D, shows even more POIs.Further still, FIG. 5E, shows restaurants (icon 19), as well as allhotels.

This logical introduction of different POI types, dependent on the zoomlevel is based on certain POIs flow-density POIs, like gas stations andamusement parks) being displayed in priority over others (high densityPOIs like restaurants). Further, certain high-density POIs are notdisplayed at all any more if you zoom out beyond a certain threshold(e.g. no restaurant POIs if map shows more than a certain number ofsquare miles).

5. Moving POIs

Another useful feature of the TomTom Navigator GPS system is that POIsdo not need to have a fixed location in the database: their location inthe database can be regularly, continuously or occasionally updated toshow a new location; when this happens, the associated POI icon'sposition on the map will automatically move to the newly definedlocation. This feature is useful for tracking assets, (e.g. vehicles;people too) and utilises the feature note earlier of sharing POI data: avehicle could send regular SMS messages with its current location (usingits own GPS system) to a mobile telephone equipped personal GPSnavigation system, which could then use the location co-ordinates in theSMS message to update a POI uniquely associated with that vehicle. Asthe vehicle location alters, its position will change on the map, asshown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, where truck 20 can be seen moving down theroute. Hence, a very low cost, yet sophisticated, asset tracking systemcan be deployed using this approach.

6. Associating an Action with a POI

Selecting a POI can trigger a related action, such as opening a windowwith information about or functions relating to the POI, or acommunication application that enables the user to call/text etc. thatPOI, or a browser window that opens a web page relating to that POI.Triggering may be direct or indirect (i.e. there are intervening steps).

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate opening a window with functions relating tothe POI—in FIG. 7A, the user has selected the icon for Manhattan Hotel21: when he does this, the name of the hotel 22 is displayed above thehotel POI icon. When the user selects the name 22, pop up menu list (23in FIG. 7B appears). Window 23 lists various functions relating to theManhattan Hotel, such as navigating to it (i.e. making it thedestination for a route calculation algorithm; the TomTom Navigatorsoftware then calculates a route from the current location to theManhattan Hotel). Another option is “Nearby points of interest” 24; ifselected, a list of nearby POIs is shown, FIG. 7C, in ascending order ofdistance from the hotel. The user can see that 12 yards from theManhattan Hotel is the Golden Eagle restaurant 25. If the user selectsthis entry 25, then more information on it is shown, including variouscontact numbers. FIG. 7D shows the information for a different hotel,this time in Berlin; if the user selects the web URL, then the deviceopens a browser window and opens the requested web page. If the usertouches the telephone number, it is automatically called (assuming thedevice has phone capabilities). If the user selects the ‘Show on map’item 26, the hotel 27 is shown again on the map, a seen in FIG. 7E.

7. Auto-Zooming of Map as Car Nears a Decision-Point

Another feature is that the map will automatically zoom-in whenapproaching a decision point, such as s turning, roundabout,intersection, merge etc. This ensures that the user can see detail whenhe needs it, without giving too much detail when it is not needed.

FIGS. 8A-D show the user 30 turning right. In FIG. 8A, the user 30 cansee that there is a right turn ahead from the map at 31 and from theright turn arrow 32 on the navigation bar. The navigation bar shows thatthe turning is 210 yards ahead 33.

As the user approaches the turn, the map progressively and automaticallyzooms in so that, at 100 yards from the turning, FIG. 8B, the scale isconsiderably greater. 35 yards from the turning, FIG. 8C, and the scalehas increased even more. After the turn has been completed, the zoomreturns to its default zoom level, FIG. 8D.

8. Auto-Zooming Depending on the Speed of the Car

FIG. 9A shows the vehicle 40 travelling at 70 mph (see navigation bar at41) along route 42. If the user were instead travelling at 7 mph, asshown in FIG. 9B, then the map would be automatically zoomed in to showmore detail. This ensures that the user can see the map extending farenough ahead to allow timely decisions to be made. In effect, the usersees a certain number of seconds ahead rather than a certain distance.

9. Screen Simplifies Above User Defined Speed

A related feature is that the screen simplifies above speed (which maybe user defined): this reduces unnecessary screen clutter and fastmoving but irrelevant detail. Hence, in FIG. 9B, roundabout 44 is shownas the user is travelling slowly at 7 mph; but in FIG. 9A, theroundabout detail is not shown at al as the vehicle is travelling at 70mph.

10. Show Next Major Route Change

FIG. 10A shows how the TomTom Navigator system can display the nextmajor route change. In FIG. 10A, it is exiting interstate highway287/87: window 50 summarises this. This shows a user departing fromfamiliar territory (e.g. home) that the main purpose of many cominginstructions is to take him to a certain highway exit. Allows driver torelax on long motorway journey since he can see at a glance that hisexit is still 275 miles 51 away.

This feature can also show a user that the main purpose of many cominginstructions is to take him to a certain highway—which allows him tofollow the road signs rather than the instructions.

11. Nightview

The conventional navigation mode view, FIG. 1A, can be replaced with anight view mode, FIG. 11B, which uses a light road against darkersurroundings, plus lower brightness and very muted colors. The glare ofthe normal (daylight) colours, and the total amount of light coming fromthe whole PDA screen, can be bothersome and maybe even dangerous whenthe user drives at night).

APPENDIX 1 Navigator 2.0 Features

The following new features are present in the Navigator 2.0 software;this software runs on a Pocket PC powered PDA, such as the Compaq iPaqand provides a GPS based navigation system when the PDA is coupled witha GPS receiver. The combined PDA and GPS system is designed to be usedas an in-car navigation system.

FEATURE COMMENT Demonstrate route Allows user to see the entire proposedroute in animated fashion as function if he is driving it. A funfeature, but also very useful for point-of- sale purposes to catch theeye of potential purchasers of the Navigator software and GPS system.The user inputs his start position and required destination in thenormal manner into the Navigator software running on the PDA. The userthen selects the manner in which a travel route is calculated: variousmodes could be offered, such as a ‘fast’ mode that calculates the routevery rapidly, but the route might not be the shortest; a ‘full’ modethat looks at all possible routes and locates the shortest, but takeslonger to calculate etc. Other options are possible, with a userdefining a route that is scenic - e.g. passes the most POI marked asviews of outstanding beauty, or passes the most POIs of possibleinterest to children or uses the fewest junctions etc. Roads themselvesare described in the database as lines - i.e. vectors (i.e. start point,end point, direction for a road, with an entire road being made up ofmany hundreds of such sections, each uniquely defined by start point/endpoint direction parameters). A map is then a set of such road vectors,plus points of interest (POIs), plus other geographic features like parkboundaries, river boundaries etc, all of which are defined in terms ofvectors. All map features (e.g. road vectors, POIs etc.) are defined ina co-ordinate system that corresponds or relates to the GPS co-ordinatesystem, enabling a device's position as determined through a GPS systemto be located onto the relevant road shown in a map. Route calculationuses complex algorithms applied to score large numbers of potentialdifferent routes. Once a route is calculated by the PDA, the PDA ineffect has stored in a database a sequence of road names and actions tobe done at pre-determined distances along each road of the route (e.g.after 100 meters, turn left into street x). The user can ask for theentire journey along the route to be simulated on a map displayed on thePDA: in the conventional manner, the position of the car on thedisplayed map is marked with an arrow; as the journey simulationprogresses, the streets move past the car arrow, which is optimallyfixed approximately 1/3^(rd) up from the bottom of the map, andcentered. This requires the database sequence of road names and actionsthat define the route to be able to be sequentially selected (saysimulating progress at a rate that allows the entire journey to becompleted in 15 seconds) and for the map to display simulated progressof the car along the vectors which define the roads of the calculatedroute. The car is hence shown actually navigating along the routecalculated by the Navigator software. In this way, a user can check thatthe route looks acceptable; the user may for example, prefer a routethat avoids a certain region and he may want to confirm that the routesuggested by the program does bypass it. Or the user may simply feelmore comfortable driving a route that he has had fully described andshown to him by the software before hand. In a point of sale system, thesimulation can continuously repeat. Alternative route A user couldselect an ‘avoid roadblock’ function that causes the function: ‘avoidsystem to recalculate a route on the basis that the road immediatelyroadblock’ ahead is blocked. A route planning algorithm will work out anoptimal route (optimal may refer to criteria such as shortest time orshortest distance, or some other factors) by exploring different routesand scoring them against the required criteria. In this way, one routewhich best meets the defied criteria is generated. If whilst actuallydriving along a route, an unexpected event occurs that requires the userto detour away from the pre-calculated route, such as a roadblock, theuser can inform the software that his immediate road ahead is blockedand require the software to re-calculate a new route, taking his currentposition as a new starting position, but taking the first turningpossible away from the old calculated route. This first turning might beahead or behind the current car position. The system hence, inconstructing the new route, explores a large number of possible routesto the destination from the current position, but excludes the roadimmediately ahead. Selecting the ‘avoid roadblock’ function has to befast and involve the absolute minimum number of screen interactions tominimise driver distraction. This can be achieved by the user being ableto switch from normal navigation mode (in which the current position ofthe car is shown on a map) to a menu mode by pressing a key or selectingany point on the screen; the menu mode displays a small number of largeicons, one of which is the ‘avoid roadblock’ option. This can beselected with one touch; when this occurs, the software re-calculatesthe route and gives instructions in the normal manner (voice; on screennavigation prompts) to allow the user to proceed to his destination butavoid the road immediately ahead. Alternative route Allows a user toeasily and rapidly select a road to mark as blocked function: ‘avoid sothat he can input information from real time traffic informationspecific road’ broadcast on the radio. When listening to the radio, auser may hear that a specific road or perhaps part of a motorway betweendefined junctions is blocked or heavily congested. If that road is onthe user's calculated route, even though it might be many kilometresaway, then he will want to have the software recalculate a new route assoon as possible. The system does this by calculating a route to thefinal destination using the current position as a start position andexploring different routes to the destination, but excluding the roadindicated as to be avoided. The new route will then be calculated usingnormal route planning algorithms and the user diverted onto the newroute. Selecting the ‘avoid specific road’ function has also to be fastand involve the absolute minimum number of screen interactions tominimise driver distraction. This can be achieved by the user being ableto switch from normal navigation mode (in which the current position ofthe car is shown on a map) to a menu mode by pressing a key or selectingany point on the screen; the menu mode displays a small number of largeicons, several of which are named roads on the route which, if selected,can be selected with one touch; when this occurs, the softwarere-calculates the route and gives instructions in the normal manner(voice; on screen navigation prompts) to allow the user to proceed tohis destination but avoid the road immediately ahead. Typically, onetouch on the screen is needed to open a window showing a list of futuremain roads (three currently are shown in Navigator 2.0); one furthertouch to select a listed icon as blocked. The system then recalculatesan alternative route. Alternative route The system can also enable auser to mark certain points/regions as function: blocked or slow or togive penalties (or their inverse, awards) to a ‘penalties’ point/regionto weight routing away from (or to) that point/region and have thesystem auto calculate an alternative route. Also, a user could penalisespecific complex junctions on a simulated route (see above) if theydisliked them, or else could indicate that he wanted fewer turnings andthe device would then count the number of turnings in alternative routesand give preference to the routes with fewer turnings. Route planningalgorithms operate by assigning scores to different possible routes inrelation to different criteria (e.g. scores for the time of journey,scores for the length of journey etc) and then determining which routehas the best overall score. Normally, the user cannot interact directlywith how the algorithm treats roads, junctions and other route features.But in Navigator 2 it is possible: the user can directly alter the waythe route planning algorithm scores a route by awarding penalties/awardsto points/regions that affect the route planning scoring. The routeplanning algorithm stores a list of all roads/junctions in vector formassociated with each calculated route from start to destination; eachitem (e.g. road section, turning etc.) will typically have severalparameters associated with it that are used in the scoring process toevaluate a best route. Hence, it is straightforward to alter the routescoring based on giving different weightings to different kinds ofitems. For example, one user might dislike junctions; in which case, theroute scoring could count junction numbers in alternate routes and thenweight more favourably routes with fewer junctions. Similarly, roadswithin certain user defined regions could have some of their scoringparameters altered to change the likelihood of a route being selectedusing them (either to increase or decrease the likelihood of selection).Alternative route A user can also simply select ‘alternative route’ ifhe simply wants to function: auto see another possible route: the systemthen recalculates a route, not generate using at least 80% of the roadsfrom the prior route. Alternative route A user can select ‘normal’,‘strict’ and ‘fast’ planning modes: each planning: results in differentroute planning algorithms being used that selecting calculate the routeeither normally, or strictly (which may take many calculation modesminutes as a great many permutations are explored) or quickly, (whichmay take a few seconds only as many simplifying assumptions are madeabout the optimal route). Large soft The device can display a largekeyboard, far larger than conventional keyboard screen based keyboardson PDAs. This allows a user to input text more easily - and withouttaking the device out of the cradle or off the dashboard - and evenusing his finger rather than the stylus. The optimal dimensions on aiPaq are: QWERTY/AZERTY keyboard images: Horizontal spacing: 25 pixelscenter to center (button to button) Vertical spacing: 32 pixels centerto center (button to button) ABC keyboard image: Horizontal spacing: 40pixels center to center Vertical spacing: 32 pixels center to centerNOTE: Numeric keyboard image is mixed (has both small and big keys)NOTE: Some keys might be 1 pixel smaller in width than other keys(aesthetics) therefore the center to center might be different from keyto key. The individual key size in pixels is (width, height): 36 × 28(ABC keyboard image) 21 × 28 (QWERTY/ASERTY keyboard image) 46 × 28(arrow keys on QWERTY/AZERTY keyboard images) 70 × 28 (space/back keyson QWERTY/AZERTY keyboard images) NOTE: Some keys might be 1 pixelsmaller in width than other keys (aesthetics) The total image sizes fordifferent keyboards (width, height) are as follows: 240 × 155 (ABCkeyboard image- as seen in Navigate to Address for example) 240 × 155(QWERTY keyboard image - as seen in Navigate to Address for example) 240× 155 (AZERTY keyboard image - as seen in Navigate to Address forexample) 240 × 62 (2 line NUM/Arrowkeys image - as seen in Navigate toAddress, 3rd page: “Enter house number or crossing”) 240 × 31 (1 lineArrow key image - as seen in ‘navigate to recent’ for example) NOTE:This includes white-space edges in the range of 1 to 3 pixels. The abovesizes enable a soft keyboard to be displayed that a user can readilyoperate with one finger when the device is mounted on a dashboard cradlewith the car moving and without being significantly distracted fromdriving. Tolerances to the above sizes are approximately 25% (plus orminus). Waypoints If you pass a location of interest on your route (e.g.while driving), you can store your present location by a very simpleaction (e.g. a tap on the screen or by issuing a voice command). Thisstores a marker in a database of waypoints; in essence the co-ordinatesof the location of interest. The waypoint can be marked on the mapitself with a POI icon. Later, the user can retrieve and use it (or evenannotate and store it). For example, if marked as a POI on a map, theuser could select the POI on the map, which would cause an annotationwindow to open, into which the user could input text (e.g. “greatbookshop here”). House numbers Each of the following features, on itsown or in combination (Navigator 2.0 uses them in combination): (1) Showno house numbers on the screen except on request, when the user taps thescreen. Then the relevant information pops up, and disappears againafter a few seconds (2) Show the house number range for the piece ofstreet between two corners that the user clicked on (3) show the streetname and house number(s) for the exact spot the user clicked on (4) oddnumbers are always shown in certain fixed colours (e.g. yellow-on-darkblue) and odd numbers are always shown in different fixed colours (e.g.white-on-black). If both even and odd numbers are shown (which is theusual case), odd numbers are always shown before even numbers. Postalcode input User can input postal code of a city instead of typing in theactual city name, when defining a home or destination which willtypically be far longer (and hence inconvenient with a small on-screenkeyboard). Furthermore, this input variant is perfect for devices withnumeric keyboards (e.g. mobile telephones) - since all countries exceptthe United Kingdom use all-numeric postal codes that uniquely identifycities. This is useful when specifying a destination with a long name;it requires there to be database of city postal codes that can bematched against, ideally with the system guessing the entire postal codefrom the initial letters/numbers so that the user does not even have toenter the entire city code. Geocoding Adding WGC 84 (or other co-ord)system data automatically to an address in a contacts list by using theco-ord system knowledge of an integrated navigation program. TheNavigator software is programmed with the WGC84 (or other co-ord system)co-ordinates of roads and house numbers along a road. Hence, when a userdefines a start or destination address as part of the normal routeplanning process, the software determines the associated WGC84co-ordinates; it can then also mark the start and destination positionson the map with appropriate icons. It can share this facility with acontacts application: a software component could take a contact addressfrom the database used by the contact application and export it to theengine in the navigation software that converts addresses to WGC84co-ordinates. This engine could then determine the WGC84 co-ordinatesand then return that WGC84 data to a new field in the database used bythe contacts application - the new field stores and makes available theWGC84 data within the contacts application or other applications.Contacts Auto-generating an option within the Contacts application tointegration navigate to that contact within the navigation programand/or show the location of the contact on a mapping application. Hotlist of most System offers a “navigate to nearby point of interest”option. This important POIs first provides a “hot list” of POI icons forthe small set of “most often used” POI types. The list is initialized togenerally useful POI types (for car drivers) like petrol station,restaurants, parking spots etc. Hence, a user can very readily ask theprogram to navigate him to the nearest petrol station etc. The system ineffect recalculates a route with the closest relevant POI as thedestination and the current location as the start. The user can manuallyadjust the types to suit his own needs. Furthermore, at least one of theicons will self-adjust to the most recently used type not already in thelist. POI along the Searching for POIs would normally be done bydefining a point and route searching outwards from that point to locaterelevant POIs. Applying this approach to finding POIs along a routewould be impossible on a PDA because you would in effect be replicatingthe search for all points along the route (potentially millions ofseparate searches for a long journey, which would be too great a load).We reverse this approach by taking each relevant POI and seeing if it ison a vectoir/line that that also defines part of the route - a simpleand fast correlation process between POIs and route lines, that canrapidly be repeated for all POIs of relevance.

1. A navigation device, comprising: a storage device to store mapinformation and points of interest (POIs), the POIs includingdescription information and location information; and a display todisplay stored POIs at a location of the map information, based upon thelocation information, POIs being selectively retrievable from a remotelocation for subsequent storage and display.
 2. The navigation device ofclaim 1, further comprising: a connection device, to connect thenavigation device to a remote server for the selective retrieval ofPOIs.
 3. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein at least one of thePOIs relates to a gas station.
 4. The navigation device of claim 3,wherein the description information includes a logo pertaining to thegas station.
 5. The navigation device of claim 4, wherein the logo isanimated when displayed.
 6. The navigation device of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the POIs relates to a store.
 7. The navigation device ofclaim 6, wherein the description information of the at least one POI,when displayed, conveys a sale at a location of the store.
 8. Thenavigation device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the POIs isuser-created.
 9. The navigation device of claim 8, wherein at least oneof the user-created POIs corresponds to a desirable location.
 10. Thenavigation device of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the POIs isselectively retrievable over the internet.
 11. The navigation device ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one of the POIs is selectively retrievableover a wireless connection.
 12. The navigation device of claim 2,wherein the at least one of the POIs is selectively retrievable over theinternet.
 13. The navigation device of claim 2, wherein the at least oneof the POIs is selectively retrievable over a wireless connection.
 14. Amethod, comprising: selecting a point of interest (POI), includingdescription information and location information, for subsequent storageand display on a navigation device; retrieving, via a connection betweenthe navigation device and a remote server, the description informationand location information of the selected POI; and storing thedescription information and location information of the selected andretrieved POI in a storage device of the navigation device.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: displaying, on a display of thenavigation device, the stored POI at a location of map information,stored in the storage device, based upon the location information. 16.The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the POIs relates to agas station.
 17. The method of claim 17, wherein the descriptioninformation includes a logo pertaining to the gas station.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the logo is animated when displayed.
 19. Themethod of claim 14, wherein at least one of the POIs relates to a store.20. The method of claim 19, wherein the description information of theat least one POI, when displayed, conveys a sale at a location of thestore.
 21. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the POIs isuser-created.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one of theuser-created POIs corresponds to a desirable location.